Congratulations to Chick Pyle’s Beneteau 36.7 Kea, the overall winner of the 2023 Yachting Cup! The team finished first in their class by winning every race – a total of six bullets. The teams impressive scores in a competitive class earned them their championship title at SDYC’s signature spring regatta.
Kea’s success didn’t come without a battle from the rest of the class. While technically Pyle and his crew won after race five, they stayed in the regatta for the picket fence – a goal that was almost interrupted by Eric Hanson’s Given-Ho. “Given-Ho is stronger than us and faster than us. We had to out-wit them. And then fate struck,” explained Pyle. Hanson’s kite twisted on the last hoist, giving Kea the chance to drive below them and finish first.
Kea has won first in their class many times over the years, including every year they’ve sailed since 2015. The team sails together often, and it pays off. Even with all of their class wins on record, they have had yet to be coined the overall winner of the regatta. When announcing the overall winning team, Yachting Cup Chair Traci Miller mentioned their efforts to foster One Design sailing, specifically in the Beneteau 36.7 class, and encourage participation in the sport.
First in class wins include:
- J/105 – Juiced – Chuck Driscoll
- Beneteau 36.7 – Kea – Chick Pyle
- Classics – Sprig – Greg Stewart
- Navigator – Vigilante – Raymond Godwin
- ORRSub – Adjudicator – Paul Dorsey
- PHRF-AA – Adjudicator – Paul Dorsey
- PHRF-B – Revo – Yumio Dornberg & Bruce Cooper
- PHRF-C – Holy Toledo West! – Timothy Forderer
Kea wasn’t the only boat with a full row of first place finishes. Paul Dorsey’s Adjudicator not only finished first in the PHRF-AA class, but won every race in the ORRSub division. Adjudicator is the smallest boat in the PHRF-AA class, competing against TP52s, J/145s, and a Farr 400M.
